KettleBlack

A Bit of Culture

2017-04-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

This morning we walked to the highway in our Sunday best and caught the Oropesa bus to Cusco. Thankfully we were able to sit down at the back and enjoyed the mountainous scene while listening to the "Eye of the Tiger" on the radio. As the old bus rattled along, I thought about how in our country this bus would have been removed from the road years ago. But here they ramble along until they literally break down while you are on them. That happened to us just after we had a caught an old tour bus at 10pm. It is about an 30 minute bus ride to our chapel and we were 15 mins late, thanks to Peruvian time, we were early and were able to find a seat before the service started. After an incredibly spiritual meeting we headed back and caught another bus. But this time they packed us like sardines. To prevent a young girl from becoming squished a middle aged man grabbed the child and put her on his lap. This would be a big NO NO in Canada. Too many fears of petifiles. In Peru, this is a common occurrence to help a mother out. Sometimes we hold a stranger's bag of goods to help make room for more bodies on the bus. It is always an adventure here. Like what happened Friday...

First the activity: We had come to Cusco for Alcides' half a century birthday celebration at his house. A nice quiet evening with friends and a slideshow presentation from his children. We ate something called Chiriuchu. Chiri means Cool in Quechua and Uchu. It is made up of cooked but cool chicken, cuy (Guinea pig), sausage, a slice of salty cheese, toasted corn, slice of tough beef all topped with seaweed and fish eggs. Usually eaten on Corpus Cristi in Cusco. You are supposed to eat a piece of each ingredient and mix the flavours in your mouth. This was my first time eating Cuy and I found it quite nice but not a lot of meat. In total, chiriuchu was a little greasy and I got tired of eating a tiny piece at a time. I am glad I had the opportunity to taste it, though and look forward to tasting more of Cusquenian cuisine.

Now the drive home:
Because the party ended at 1030pm, well we left early so we don't know when it actually ended, we didn't have a bus home as the last bus is at 7pm so we went to a place called Control and jumped into the trunk of a guys station wagon who was going home. Since he was passing Oropesa we caught a ride for 3 soles a person.

The Bathroom

2012-09-03T11:56:00.001-07:00

A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO DONATED TOWARDS THE BATHROOM.

Let me show you a few pictures to show the progress of the new bathroom.

The original bathroom was getting very old and had sunk a few feet. It was made when there were only a few children. Now that they have 14, they were in need of more facilities.


The outside of the original bathroom. Here you can see two toilets and a shower.

The inside view of the old shower

the toilet

Now for the new bathroom...

A Volunteer, Julie, working on the inner walls of the new bathroom

this is after the floor and plumbing was done

Jon and Jaime consulting.

Here you can see the walls are mudded, the windows are in and the tiles are on.

Some of the features of the new bathroom will include:
Two showers, three toilets, one sink, and one urinal.
Also we have built a solar water heating system to warm up the water used for showers.

This is the bones to the solar water heating system.

Half way there.

Machu Picchu - Visit Number One

2012-09-01T07:42:00.001-07:00

There are few things that can compare to the mystery, historical value, and beauty of Machu Picchu. For those of you who are not familiar, Machu Picchu is one of the most well-known and most visited set of ancient ruins in the world, and has been labelled a World Heritage site and one of the wonders of the world.

Everyday thousands of people visit this archaeological wonder. There are so many people that visit the ruins that the Peruvian government has become concerned about the wear-and-tear of the site and has limit the number of daily visitors to 2500 people a day, and that still sounds like a lot!

On August1 we became part of those 2500 people and finally saw the wonder of Machu Picchu. We went with our super awesome friends Julie, Kaley, and Gina. The experience was in one word, awesome. Many believe that the ruins are actually pre-incan, that the incan people got there and thought, wow, this is a pretty cool place, lets check it out, actually lets just live here, I'm sure we'll get used to the altitude. Machu Picchu has this really iconic mountain in the background that you see in all the Machu Picchu pictures called Huaynapicchu, which actually has it's own set of ruins on the very top. We luckily got tickets to not only hike Machu Picchu, but Huaynapicchu as well. When you're up there you wonder how in the world people could have lived up that high, precariously teetering on the edge of sheer cliffs.

The photos, as beautiful as they are, really don't do the ruins justice, because it's not just the ruins that are amazing, it's the altitude, the sounds, the plants, and the wondering how it was all done, wrapped into a feeling; I highly recommend it.

Food Glorious Food

2012-08-21T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, recently I have taken it upon myself to make Canadian food. I am enjoying Peruvian, it is different but flavorful, but some days I just want something familiar. We rejoiced when we found some imported meals. We gorged ourselves in Macaroni and Cheese and Mr. Noodles, you know, the healthy stuff. I also found snickers! Unfortunately, they were so expensive that I didn´t bother to buy them. I did by the Oreos though... yummm.

In Peru the main meal of the day is Lunch. When you go to the restaurant you order something called Menu. Menu includes a soup, segundos ( seconds) and a drink. The drink is usually Chicha Morada (a purple corn drink)

Because the water needs to be boiled the drinks are usually warm. The segundos always, and a I mean ALWAYS includes rice AND potatoes. Today I ate a nice flat chewy piece of beef mounted on a bed of rice and fries. (chose the fries as I wasn`t going to have boiled potatoes). They don´t have real ketchup here but instead they use mayo and mustard for the fries, or at least a watery version of Mayo. Mayo is always the Peruvian sauce of choice. If something doesn´t taste just right, add mayo. If you have a sore throat, drink Mayo - just kidding. For the throat you drink Coca Cola or drink Coca tea. Food is definitely an adventure. It is also the one thing that makes me homesick (besides family and friends). Some days, I bypass the soup because I am tired of picking out the floating chicken feet. I have yet to try the famous CUY - also known as Guinea Pig.

For dinner at the orphanage the kids are served a tea (herbal, called "mate" here) and two buns. Some nights I am soo hungry I munch on crackers after my ration of bread. Well last night I had had it and decided I would make pancakes for the kidos. They cheered in anticipation, two of them hung out in the kitchen just to watch us make food. There was a pile of pancakes at the end, I think we, Anastasia and I, made close to 80. Anastasia had never made them before. The first thing Dante, one of the older boys, said was, "I want to learn." They were all so excited, I even made a syrup as you can`t buy it here. Their thank yous were music so my ears, one boy said I was his super friend. I guess I`ll be making more! Next time I will teach them how.

Also, last night Jon and I went into the younger boys room to read them stories. The boys usually go to bed quietly without fuss but last night they were jumping up and down on their beds with excitement because we were there. I read a story to two boys and Jon read to the other two. After being drowned in hugs and kisses, we crashed onto our bed and watched movie we bought at the market.

Picnic Time

2012-08-14T12:48:00.002-07:00

It has been a little frustrating trying to upload pictures to blogger. The internet connection is super slow at times, it could be faster but the person who owns it keeps watching movies slowing us all down!! ARG!
Well this entry is incredibly late but here it goes...
A couple weeks back one of the vollunteers was leaving back to France, so she decided she wanted to do something special for the kids. We planned to take them out to a park and have a picnic. When we told them there would be food they all cheered for joy. I guess eating is one of their main priorities. It was a lot fun planning and preparing. We split some of the cost but I think Julie, our friend from France who was leaving, paid for most of it. She even planned to get shirts made for each of the kids. At the park we ate a lunch of pasta salad and sandwiches. Jon and I bought pasteries for everyone. Then we played games and soccer (futbol). It was a long day with lots of fun, then at the end we presented the shirts, Julie said her goodbyes and we went our separate ways. It was sad to see her say goodbye and I imagine it will be even harder for us because we will have stayed longer. Days like this are so special because they happen so imfrequently. Usually, they go to school and study and have many chores durning the week, then the weekend is filled with more chores and other odd jobs. They rarely get to go out because it is so expensive. Sometimes there is not enough money for light or food and Jon and I end up helping out. We don´t mind as this is what we came for. Just the other day I walked into the kitchen to find all the cupbourds bare. Not even any dish soap. So the next day we took a trip to Cusco, 45 mins away by bus, to buy tons of Veges, flour and other basic needs.

It is all about the food

Lunch time

They were very appreciative

Handing out the shirts made for the kids

The Man in charge getting into the action

Caught in the air

Futbol!!

Handing out the food

Dealing with the crowds

Just a Quicky

2012-08-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Faithful Readers!!

We have yet to fill your eyes with pictures of our adventures here. We have travelled to Machu Picchu, taken the kids to a park for Julie´s last day, and much more. Jon has been sick with larengytis and some weird cough, another trip to the doctor, and we moved back to the orphanage. The children cheered so loud when they heard we were going to be staying at Azul Wasi. They are so so loving and want to be around us all the time. I have much to write and no time to do it in. We have to walk 30 minutes just for an internet connection. We have about a month left here and I am not looking forward to leaving. If you haven´t had a chance to donate I would encourage you to do so while we are here. We are almost done the bathroom, but we have also been fixing a lot of other things. Like the fridge! no more rotting food! I have to run, but I promise a better post with pictures in the future. Lots of love!! Dana and Jon

Tipon and Cake

2012-07-25T06:54:00.001-07:00

Today we went on a morning trek to Tipon in honor of Dana's birthday. Tipon is an ancient Incan archaeological site which is believed to be either used as a hang out for upper class, or an agricultural area, which I personally think is more likely. Tipon is known for its elaborate, and still working, system of aqueducts, likely used for irrigation. We left around 10am after saying good-morning to the kids and headed out on the hour-or-so long hike from Azul Wasi, including the 2km or so of the stairs of death (not the official name, it just fits well). The plan was to return around 1:30pm or so in time for the little kids to get back from school so we could have lunch with them and eat birthday cake!

Tipon. The terraced land is set with retaining walls typical of Inca architecture, stone on stone with no mortar; incredibly precise and strong. The houses appear to have some kind of mortar, although that may be from the restoring process.

The hike up. We didn't take too many pictures of this part of the trip, mainly because it was so incredibly exhausting that we didn't do much more than frantically gasp for air the whole time. This picture must have been a short rest. I may not look it, but I really am having fun, honestly.

At the top. These guys got to rest for a while while I ran back down the mountain to make sure Abby was ok. Abby is Jamie and Roxanna's daughter and it was Abby's second day in Cusco, not good for mountain climbing, she was short on oxygen and her fingers were swelling. Then I had the privilege of climbing the mountain again, hence the name of the stairs I mentioned earlier.

The walls all have conveniently placed stairs for ease of moving to the next level, it sort of reminds me of a video game, but all the bad guys were cleared out centuries ago.

Beautiful Dana, I love it when she looks at me like that.

Most of the fountains and aqueducts still function as they did originally. Amazing.

The hiking group. Left to right: Me, Kaley, Dario, Dana, Gina, Matilda.

Apparently these holes were for communicating somehow, I don't really get it. Here everyone is trying to figure it out. I took the picture this time...

Ok, this was hilarious. Matilda was gracious enough to take a picture of Dana and I , and when she crouched down to get a better angle, this wonderfully sharp cactus needle entered into her behind. You can see here the little bit of blood on the point. It was really in there! Dana attempted to pull it out and this thing was really stuck, so I took a "stab" at it. I was counting to three to prepare her for the pull, but neither her nor Dana thought that was a good idea, so I got to the "point" and just yanked on it really hard and viola, Matilda had a new souvenir! She was pretty good about the whole thing.

Birthday cake! We finally got back to Azul Wasi around 2pm, just in time for the kids to get home, and they were super excited to chow down on these yummy tortas.

The devouring. I don't think these kids eat very much cake very often. Some of them didn't seem sure how to really eat a cake, although reflecting back on how kids this age ate cake in Canada, it could just be the age. They seemed to start from the center of the cake, completely avoiding the frosting. Nevertheless, one way or another, most succeeded in inhaling their portion.

Julie with Nilo and Alfredo. Julie had been to Tipon before so she spent the morning with the older kids.

Blowing the candles. We had to light the candles like 7 times because it was so drafty in the comedor. Happy Birthday Dana!

A Day In The Life

2012-07-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

So I had a request from family to share a little more about some day-to-day things, so here's my first attempt at a "day-in-the-life-of" post. Unfortunately, today (July 23, 2012) was neither a very eventful day nor was it a day that I got to spend with Dana, both reasons why this is nothing close to a "day-in-the-life-of", since we are usually together and usually the day is busier. Nevertheless, I will share with you my day and hopefully the next day-in-the-life-of post we do will be more accurate. So here it goes:

Our hotel, el Hostal Union Real. We love it here, super good people and a great deal! The fabrication business underneath is also owned by the same people.

Well, we went to bed rather late last night, I can't really remember why, oh ya, I was writing a post and uploading photos. Anyway, the point is that because we went to bed late we both got up late too. This morning I didn't get out of the hotel until 9:15am or so, I'm usually almost at Oropesa by that time. Dana headed off to Cusco and I said goodbye and wished her a wonderful day. So I got to the bus stop (Paradero) which is only about a half a block away, and waited for about 20min for the next bus to Oropesa. To my surprise it was the same bus that Julie, Maltilda (another volunteer from France I forgot to mention in my last post), and Dario! it's so great to see these wonderful people, they are so great to work along side.

Waiting at the Paradero. Russ Poon, if your reading this, you may notice the Hitachi vest I'm wearing. Look familiar? You'll get this back one day!

From left to right: Me, Julie, Matilda, and Dario. Great people! Small bus!

The bus this morning was so full! Oh my goodness.... it was sooooo full! So I spent most of my ride squished on the bus. Bus rides are usually not bad despite being so crowded, I really don't suffer much because I'm at least a foot taller than most Peruvians so it's them that get to snuggle into my armpits, they don't seem to mind, that I can tell anyway. The bus ride is about 20-25 min on average I'd say. We drive out of Cusco through connected towns like San Jeronimo, Huasao, Saylla, and Tipon. Finally we arrived at Oropesa. We get off the bus in the town Plaza and then walk about another 15 min to Azul Wasi. I love walking down the dirt road to Azul Wasi. It really is so peaceful and beautiful, and occasionally stinky but that's ok.

From let to right: Gina, Matilda, Kaley, Julie, Dario, me. Arriving at Azul Wasi!

When I got there the little ones had already gone to school. We stopped to take pictures at the front door just because we all happened to be there. Today Jaime wasn't able to be there so that meant that I was left to direct a few things, which was totally fine. I had the group of high school girls water the plants in the greenhouse, and I think they did some weeding, not sure. Then I had them gather all the rocks they could from on the property. The reason was this: We have a septic tank that breaks down the sewer water and out of one tube comes relatively clean water and out another tube comes mud. The tank is 1000L, so you can imagine that it could potentially fill up within a few days and then all the sewer water would go directly into the canal and into the public water system, which isn't out of the ordinary around here but we wanted to make things as clean and sustainable as possible so we took the advice of Reyn, a medical doctor who has been here the last few days helping out, and started to make some dams in the canal to allow the settling and decomposition of some of the blackwater, and also to help with the filtering of any upstream viruses, diseases etc.

The girls working on the first of the dams, they're great workers!

The shower solar heater. Not a ton of volume but it will provide at least a couple warm showers a day. We're almost done!

The first dam, there's about half a meter of water where there used to be only a few inches. Hopefully it will work the way we hope!

This is the bathroom that we're almost finished. You can also see here the rest of the foundation intended for living quarters, along with more bathroom/shower area. This is part of what we are trying to raise funds for. Help us and Donate!

Danny on the new playground. He tried at least 12 times to make it across, and he made it!

Danny, sunset, good times...

While they did that I decided to work on the solar shower we've been working on for the new bathroom. I had Jesus, the new 15 year old boy here, help me put on some of the roof pieces. We did that until the girls had to go and then I went down to finish up the first dam and pack it with some mud and grass. After that I spent some time with Danny, one of the younger boys. Everyone else was doing homework and Yuliño was pretty sick so things were fairly quiet. I hung out with Danny for an hour or so and then I went to chat with Alcides until it was time to go. We both missed the last bus back to Cusco so we walked down to the main avenida and took a cab for a couple bucks. I was back at the hotel at 7:00pm or so.

So that was pretty much my day. Tomorrow will be a little more eventful since we're going to hike up to Tipon in the morning and then celebrate Dana's birthday with the kids at lunch time. We'll be sure to tell you all about it too!

If there is anything else anyone is curious about please mention it to us and we'll do our best to give you some detailed answers!

Food, Friends, and Memories

2012-07-22T21:59:00.001-07:00

Little Alfredo washing up after school, this kid is adorable. I bet you parents would love to not have to convince your seven-year-old to take a shower, let alone an icy-cold one, and have them smile about it!

At Azul Wasi there never seems to be a dull moment. In the mornings the younger kids are already up and off to school, and the older kids are doing chores, finishing a homework assignment or spending time with the volunteers. Around lunch time when the dull roar of everyone's stomachs starts to fill the air a hearty lunch is served and everyone gathers together to feast. Lunch always comprises of two things, a soup to start, usually a delicious vegetable-filled soup with potatoes. And then "segundos" is served, or the second course. This is usually rice served with some sort of stir-fried something, often fried potatoes with vegetables (very traditional for Cusco), fish, or some sort of other food/sauce that goes fairly well with rice.

Lunch time can never come too soon...

We are enjoying the variety of foods here. My personal favorite is ceviche. For those that don't know it's fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juice and spiced with hot peppers. Super good! You have to be careful where you get it from though. Some places serve ceviche that gives you mysterious stomach problems such as I experienced yesterday. I ate a nice bowl of ceviche and a TON of deep fried calamari, soooo delicious; absolutely amazing. Vomiting it all up that night was so worth it. Today we made Spaghetti at the hotel. What a treat, I tell you. It's nice to have something familiar once in a while. I ate more food tonight than I have for a while, a lot more, but I guess that's what happens when you barf everything up the night before.

The source of both my ceviche/calamari dream-come-true, and my night of toilet-filling.

Our volunteers are great. We have such a good group of people working here with us. As far as semi-permanent volunteers go we are 7 in total right now. Dana and I, Julie from France, Gina (the kids call her China (chee-na)), Kaley (Kiwi), both from San Diego, Ana, originally from Brasil but lives in the States, and Dario, from Switzerland. We are all great friends, and it's so nice to be able to talk together about our experiences with the kids. It's amazing to see how the kids can love so many people the same.

Ana, another great volunteer. Evenings are always filled with sunshine and good times.

The other day we had a group of high school students come from the states to help with work at Azul Wasi. We had them build some great hydroponic tables that we'll use for growing lettuce. With the tables we should, in theory, have fresh lettuce every day and may even have some to spare to sell. This weekend we also had a family came from the states to help out with the construction of the new bathroom. They also went into town and bought a ton of groceries and other things we were running out of which was super helpful and appreciated. It's amazing how help seems to come right when it's needed.

Valerio, "hanging-out" at a park after a day at the fair with all the kids.

Ana-Rita, having fun at the fair in the bounce house. Ana-Rita is twelve and sometimes is left in charge of taking care of things at Azul Wasi when things need to get done.

There is something special about the children at Azul Wasi. Some of them come scared, alone, violent, aggressive, anti-social, and within a relatively short time they change into happy, smiley, caring, responsible, and fun kids. We love them all but one of our favorites is little Alfredo. He is the toughest, cutest little guy. He has the best little sense of humor and is always cracking jokes or pulling pranks, at least as much as a seven-year-old can. It really is an interesting thing to watch how he lives. He is so independent. Parents in Canada would die to have a child as well behaved, obedient, and responsible as him. He has a maturity far beyond his years, and he absolutely loves us all. All the boys are similar in that way I guess.

Always up for a fun time and a few memories.

This experience really has been both an eye-opening experience, and also a paradigm-shifting experience. I think I see the world differently now. I remember flying into Peru about a month ago and wondered if we were totally out of our minds. After all, we were so so much further from anything familiar than I have ever thought I'd be; the world is a very different place here. But I love it. I love seeing life from the perspective of these boys, and this culture in general. I feel privileged to be able to understand, to some degree, what normalcy is for a people who live on a very different side of the spectrum, far from what I thought was "normal". I wish I could somehow thank these kids for such a great gift. I wish I could take them all home with me!

A sheep from the neighbor's farm, just another detail to add to the simple beauty of this place.

I love the cool mornings, the daily ritual of saying hello to each one of the kids individually, giving them a hug, letting them know how well their doing, sitting with them and talking one-on-one, laughing with them, hearing their stories, learning about their strengths. I love the heat of the sun at noon, thawing everyone's bundled bodies, then gathering together for lunch, and later helping them learn about math and language. The wind comes in strong around 3pm, and by 5:30pm or so the sun begins to set, the world becomes calmer and quieter, life no longer seems so hard, and we watch the shadows mature into nighttime. We say goodbye for the day, hugs for everyone, and then the next day we do it all over again.

Playing a few tunes for the kids in the sunset before we call it a day.

Azul Wasi

2012-07-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Azul Wasi is located about 45 minutes from Cusco. My first impression was that Azul Wasi is a farm, hens and chicks run around pecking the grass while the rooster continues to let them know who is boss. There are three dogs, two large white ones and the little grey yappy one, Pinky, who delights in waking us up at night by barking at everything that moves.The boys ages range from 6-19 ( one just had a birthday). In the morning the younger boys go to school while the older ones do their daily chores and finish homework before they go at 1230pm. We help the boys with their homework each afternoon and morning then play games with them if they don't want to watch TV. Their chores include washing the floor of the library, ( if you could call it a library with the small amount of books there), watering the plants in the greenhouse, cleaning out the bathrooms, and picking up chicken poop.

When we were staying at the orphanage ( now we are in a hotel) I felt like we were camping, because it got soo cold at night. There is no insulation or heat in the room we were staying in so we wore about 3 layers of clothes before we huddled under the alpaca blankets. Once we were warm, we stay ed perfectly comfortable all night under the heavy blankets. They are amazing how they keep the heat in. There is electricity and internet! ( it was not working before).

The Kitchen is simple with a fridge that is barely cool enough. The food is cooked in ancient pots on a propane stove. There is huge clay oven in the back but I have never seen it in use.

Around the orphanage are fields that are tilled by hand, we really are in the countryside.

Birthday

2012-07-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Our lunch : Ceveche and Calamari and sweet potato

Today is my birthday and we just got home from a day of exploring and shopping at the weekend market. There is a market here that it only open on Saturdays and Sundays. It is very popular with the Peruvians and we didn't see any tourist. The prices are incredibly low compared to the San Pedro Market. I am not sure about the name but it is located just of La Avenida de la Cultura. For those of you reading this from Peru and you want to go leave me a comment and I'll find the name for you.

the food market

a meal from the market

the trout and chicken roasting on a homemade barbecue

the market

In the market you can by anything from jeans, soil, jewelry, dishes, soaps, pirated music, shoes and much more. Alcides showed us around the markets, showing us where to buy what, then he took us to the lunch market; tiny stalls crammed with vendors selling ceveche ( raw fish cooked in lime), Cuy ( hampster), trout and many other types of food I have yet to be brave enough to try. It was a lot of fun. Before going to the markets Alcides took us to a little shop that sells pure Peruvian honey. The man who owns it is from France but he has living in Cusco for ten years and doesn't speak french very well. The honey we are going to buy is a special mix of Royal Jelly, Honey, Pollen and Inca coco. It is suppose to help us with our fertility "issues".
About that.. in Peru they have so many "cures" for fertility. We have been trying many different things and are excited for the honey. Even if it doesn't work, it is filled with so many nutrients is will be good for our general health.

Last night we went with Jaime and Roxanna to a dance club in Plaza del Armas, our first Discoteca experience. No cover charge and we don't drink alcohol, so a nice cheap night! It was exciting and crazy all at once. We went for the free Salsa lessons and afterwards they played club music. We danced and danced until we were exhausted then the club got over crowded and we decided to leave. But we before we left the DJ announced that it was my birthday thanks to Jaime! It was a fun night.

Here is the picture I promised from this post: Bus Adventures

The Combis we take to get around town and a picture of the taxis. All the vehicles are incredibly old and pollute the air with black exhaust.

the combis are the two vans in the back

most of the taxis are Suzuki

more photos here

Bus Adventures and Daily Living

2012-07-17T22:13:00.004-07:00

Starting at 830 in the morning I take Spanish classes deep in the touristy part of Cusco. I felt my Spanish was way to rusty after 10 years, so I decided it would be a good idea to sit for 4 hours every morning relearning my verbs and words. It has been a good experience because it has introduced me to a whole new Cusco. The part you see in magazines. Polished cobble stone roadways from years of foot traffic, no wider than a small car. Ancient Incan stone walls with Spanish construction on top is a real reminder of what happened when the Spanish conquered the historic capital of the Inca Empire. It is sad to think of the culture and stories that are buried underneath but the Spaniards were not the first to conquer in this way. The Inca did it to the Killke people who lived in the Cusco region before the Inca arrived.

The area where I attend class is called San Blas. I remember the first time I stepped off the bus, I was taken aback by all the "white" people. Jon and I live in a part of the city where there are no tourists and even the little town, Oropesa, where the orphanage is, is so far out of Cusco that to see a fair skinned person is very rare. The bus ride is a pretty crazy adventure in itself. Let's just say is would be incredibly illegal in Canada and I am determined to get a picture for you because I am sure I can't describe it well enough.

Here there are two types of buses. The main buses, which are generally old and smelly and the Combis, which are minivans. On both there is a driver and a worker, who collects the money and calls out the next bus stop. You hear a lot of "baja, baja" which means to go down, or "this is my stop!" The worker, ( I don't know his correct term) will say "Baja El Hostpital?" and I will say "Baja" to indicate I want that stop, then I will pay my 60 centavos( about 22 cents US) for the entire trip.

But if only it were that simple... The buses, and more so, the Combis are usually packed from floor to ceiling with people. When you think they can't fit anymore people, 5 more people will enter the bus. At one point, I was standing on the edge with the door hanging open with the worker's arm around me to keep me from falling out of the bus. Thankfully I don't get claustrophobic or have zero personal space, my friends have always said I don't have a personal bubble. In the Combis, or minibuses, you are standing shoulder to shoulder with everyone else with your head crocked to one side because minibuses where NOT made to stand in. You are thrown from front to back and side to side as the Combi races from one stop to another. I am usually white knuckling it the whole trip. Once your stop is close, you pay and then race off because they are known to take off while you are exiting the bus.

I have to say it is great being a woman in Peru. Generally when a seat comes available the men offer the seat to a woman before they take it. Also if you pregnant, have a child with you or are obviously really old, people will stand up and offer their seat.

The people here are very helpful and kind for the most part. You greet and say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek. Even strangers you have just met on the bus. I have received so much help at the grocery store, panaderia ( bread store), bus stops and list goes on. They call me, "Mammy" and ask me how I am as I walk down the street. I call the other women " Mammy" and they love it! I am picking up the little nuances and pieces of culture. Cusco has been a beautiful and crazy experience thus far.

Ok so back to the rest of my day. After my classes are done at 1pm I catch two buses to get to Oropesa, once in the town I walk about 30 mins to the orphanage along a dusty old back road. Hopping over garbage and sewage water. The whole trip taking me about 2 hours. Once I arrive at Azul Wasi, I hear shouts of joy!! " Amiga, Dana!!" Then I am surrounded by young boys and some teenagers and the two girls that live there. The youngest boy, Alfredo, or Alfredito (meaning little Alfredo) as we call him, literally jumps into my arms covering my face with kisses. Then he pulls me to the newly built playground to play. I guess those nights of reading books to him really payed off. I can tell he loves me so much. The oldest girl also wont leave me alone. She just holds me for such a long time and then she hugs me again. Before I leave in the evening, they always ask, "will you come back earlier tomorrow"? I can't wait till I am done classes so I can come in the mornings. They always seem so sad when we leave. Nilo (or Nilito), the brother of Alfredito told me to be very careful and to take of ourselves. He was very serious about it. Then he looked in Jon's eyes and said " don't cry, you be careful out there" He is the cutest little 6 year old boy!

A Day at the Zoo

2012-07-10T14:32:00.005-07:00

The Sunday before last, Julie, Jon and I took the all the children to the Zoo in Tipon. Tipon is east of Cusco and west of Oropesa. A half hour walk on dirt roads, the scenery is breathtaking as you can see the patchwork of farmer's fields and water racing down home-made canals. Spindly cacti grew towards the sky beside our path and the temptation to pick their fruit was overwhelming and I learnt first-hand the Spanish word for spines. The red "tuna" was covered in unseen "espinas" and I spent days picking them out of my hand.

At the zoo ( also known as an animal reserve) we saw many weird and amazing animals. The animal lover in me, of course, felt sick when I saw the incredibly small cages.

Spider Monkey

Fox

The Famous Condor

Black-chested Buzzard-Eagle

Puma

Sicky Sick

2012-07-09T10:07:00.002-07:00

Getting sick is not fun but being sick in a foreign country is 100% worse. Nothing is familiar and you feel trapped with not knowing where to go to get help. About two weeks ago I spent 4 days in bed sick with the flu. Thankfully I had brought lots of vitamins and advil to help me feel better. I did feel better, a whole lot better, that I decided I needed to do some laundry on Saturday. The water was like ice and many times I had to stop to thaw out my hands in the sun. The nights here in the mountains are cold and each morning there is a layer of thick frost clinging to everything. Last Sunday, we felt our room was overwhelmingly cold but nothing of it until the next morning when one of the children pointed out that our window was open. Well, between cold water and being chilled an entire night, it was too much for my body to handle as it hadn’t completely recovered from the first cold. Jon, the great husband that he is, took it upon himself to move us from the orphanage to Cusco into a hotel.

The 1^st thing we thought about was what to eat. We wanted something familiar something from home. Jon found Instant Quaker Oatmeal (made in Canada!), Pringles, Ichiban Noodles and lots of yummy fruit.

Laying on the hotel bed wasn’t making me any better in fact I got worse and worse struggling to stay warm between each wave of chills that pulsated throughout my body. Our good friends here suggested I see a doctor and he made the call that evening. This doctor is a friend to Jaime and is also a leader in our church here in Cusco, he is a young man who studied to be a surgeon and specializes in Altitude and Hyperbaric Medicine. He asked us to come in 30 minutes and never charged us for his time. The clinic was incredibly clean and pristine. Beautiful white tiled floors and modern equipment everywhere. He was very patient and kind with his assessment giving me all the time I needed.

His conclusion…

I have the beginnings of bronchitis.

The prescription?

Antibiotic: Levofloxacin

Ibuprofen

Antihistamine and Antiinflamitory: Dexalor (includes Loratadine and Dexamethasone)

Expectorant: English Ivy

A very interesting cocktail but I was willing to do anything to feel normal again, I hadn’t eaten in days and Jon says my face looks noticeably thinner. It has been 5 days on those meds and I feeling almost human again! I am able to eat and sit up for longer periods. At least long enough to write this.

The hotel staff have been excellent; they do all that they can to make sure our stay is as comfortable as possible. We have a great rate of about 8 dollars a day with access to wash our clothes, hot water and free wifi. Originally we had two single beds that we pushed together and a tiny table but as soon as the double bed came available they moved it into our room with an additional larger table and set up everything so beautifully. We also have two sets of parents who check on us know and then. Jaime and his wife, Roxanna ( who works for Generations) and Alciedes and his wife ( the owner of Azul Wasi). They all have made sure we are comfortable and call us their hijos ( children). I love it!!

Well I’ve used up my energy so it is off to bed for now!

Take Care and Don’t get Sick!!!

The Kids

2012-07-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

This last week has been somewhat of a whirlwind. Cusco definitely has pushed us to our limits in many ways. Of course, the thing that makes this all worth it are the kids; they are absolutely precious and so loving, and seeing how they are pushed to their limits, makes the work for us seem so much easier. We've been able to have so many great times with these kids. Although we're not sure how far our influence will go, we know that we love them and that hopefully we'll have some positive effect on their futures. Many of these kids come from pretty grim circumstances, many broken families in extremely poor situations.

You don't find six-year olds this resilient and this happy every day.

It's amazing to watch them live day to day; these are tough kids. These kids sleep in concrete rooms without heat in old used beds covered with several thick heavy Alpaca blankets. At night the temperature gets down to 3-5 degrees C. They wake themselves up at about 6:30am every morning and start to do their chores. Some of them sweep the floors of their rooms with water and an old stained broom, some feed the chickens and the dogs, while others clean up chicken droppings from around the orphanage. There is dirt everywhere. Most of their shoes have holes in them and some have shoes whose soles are barely hanging on. Even the six year-olds will often move things like large loads of wet clothes, chairs and tools around with wheel-barrows 4 times their own size. These kids work hard, without whining. Every Saturday they wash their own clothes with water from a small well on the corner of the property, and then hang them on the line to dry. They clean their own dishes, they dress themselves, and they even send themselves to bed. Most of them are really bright, they do homework every day, and some even have the best grades in their class. Some of them have a harder time with learning, for some it's because they've only been speaking Spanish for a few years, their native tongue being Quechua, the language of one of the indigenous peoples of Peru.

The weekly Saturday washing of clothes.

Digging the hole for the composting sewer tank, this guy is amazing!

All of them however, seem so happy, and of course there is lots of time for fun too. Some of them love to play the card game war and have come up with their own complicated rules on how to play. Their life really makes me think of the life we have in Canada. When we say that we live a comfortable life in Canada, we really do, more so than I realized. In Canada most of our water can be drunk right from the tap. Here, if you do that you spend the next two days vomiting, as I have found out (it was hardly a mouthful and I didn't even realize until that evening on the bus!). In Canada you just throw your clothes into a machine that cleans and dries them for you, your water comes from a stable water system, your electricity isn't jimmy-rigged from the closest power line, and when you go to the bathroom you can flush the toilet paper down the toilet. In Canada there aren't dirty wild stray dogs everywhere that bite at your heels when you walk down the street, and there aren't people living in mud houses and the farmers don't have to irrigate their fields with sewer water.

Off for a walk to the local zoo.

We love being here, we are enjoying doing our best to help. We are living their life in some small degree and we have learned so much from them as we have done so. If there is anyone interested in donating in some way to help these kids, please please contact us!

Trekking for Kids

2012-07-02T10:50:00.002-07:00

I am a little behind in blogging so I will be playing catch up for the next couple of blog entries.

Last week a volunteer group called Trekking for Kids came to Azul Wasi and painted the bedrooms of the older kids. They had also donated money that will go directly to fund another building. It was a very exciting time for the children and some of them got into the action! There was lots of laughs and cheers of excitement as the leader of the trekking group unveiled some 'goodies' for the kids. Volleyballs, a chess set and more! It was also a day of hard work digging a huge whole for a tank that will decompose waste from the bathroom.

Trekking for Kids volunteer painting

One of the boys helping out!

Alcides ( the man who started Azul Wasi) digging a hole for the tank.

It was a group effort!

Lunch in the eating area with everyone.

After beautifying the boy's home, we all gathered in the library for an evening of entertainment and more gifts from the Trekking for Kids group.

Trekking for Kids were so generous, they provided new backpacks filled
with treats and school supplies for each child

brother and sister dancing a traditional Peruvian dance

The Group

The Arrival - my side!

2012-06-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Finally I get a chance to write a decent entry. Jon informed me that my last entry was riddled with errors so I apologize to anyone who tried to read it, thankfully he has since corrected it. Thankfully Jon has been able to give you a picture of what it been like. Flying into Cusco was incredible, the Andes mountain range is nothing like I have ever seen, they seem to go on forever; which, would make sense since they are the world's longest continental mountain range. On our flight from Lima to Cusco our captain would point out the different sights along the way. Suddenly we took a sharp turn and he announced that we were going to land in Cusco. The descent was incredibly rapid and you felt like you were falling from the sky. As soon as we touched ground there was clapping and cheering, while the young Peruvian mother, sitting across from us, made the sign of the cross across her chest.

We collected our luggage and lined up to push the BUTTON...
It is the red light, green light system for customs. You push the button and if you get a green you are free to go and if it is red then your bags get searched. When I was in Costa Rica, I got a red light and they took away my beans saying they will return them when I exit the country, that never happened; so I was a little hesitant to push the button, hoping it would be green!

It turned red.

Thankfully there was no searching because it takes forever, but we did have to put all our stuff in a high powered xray machine that probably blasted our bodies with enough radiation for a lifetime. If you are pregnant or hope to ever be they have a sign that says not to stand close to the machine.

Our first breath of Peruvian air was filled with sounds of 'Taxi!' 'Taxi!' ' Lady, you wan Taxi!'
The taxi drivers followed us around as we searched for our ride. No one was there. We waited and waited but never wondered if they were coming. I finally phoned our contact, Jaime, who said Alcides would be at the airport in 30 minutes. I was happy to see a friendly face when Alcides called out my name, as I had had a tour guide/taxi driver guy follow me around everywhere and said he would take me where ever I wanted to go. I told him, "No" but he kept standing too close to me and watched everything I did. He even followed me when I made the phone call to Jaime!

Our ride to the orphanage was the typical Latin american experience, weaving in and our of traffic, incredibly fast, and full of horns honking at everyone. It was a ton of fun!

Now, we have been here almost a week at Azul Wasi and we have already had some highs and lows.

The Lows: Getting sick - our trip down was a whirlwind of preparations that included last minute dentist appointments and shopping trips and of course NO SLEEP...so it was no wonder that when we arrived the first thing for me to do was to get sick. Really sick. It was probably a combination of altitude sickness but I think mainly an upper respiratory infection. I am still coughing yellow. Thankfully I came prepared so all it well on that front.

Also living here has put my Spanish to the ultimate test! It has been very difficult for me because I have forgotten so much and they talk so fast.

But now for The Highs: Even though my Spanish is poor the boys are still very accepting. The youngest ones love to hug and the littlest one gives me kisses on the cheek. Even though the older boys are teenagers they are not too cool to play with Jon and I. We play volleyball and basketball between chores and homework.

Everything is soo different from Canada but that is an entire post in itself. I will leave that for another entry...

Hasta Mañana

The Journey, The Arrival

2012-06-24T10:37:00.003-07:00

The Journey down to Peru was an adventure in itself. I remember when we flew over the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and into Central America and then South America we were both thinking, “oh my goodness…this is really happening isn’t it?!!?”. It was sort of a mix between super nervous and super excited, and not really knowing what to expect.

Our flight the next morning was at 8am, which meant that we had to get up at like 6 to make it from the hotel we stayed at that night. By this time we were pretty short on sleep having only had like 4 hours the night before, but that didn’t stop the excitement! Coming into Cuzco was so amazing. When flying, the plane just kept climbing and the ground just kept following us as we got further and further into the Andes mountain range. I told Alan Cahoon I'd tell him whether I got sick on the plane, I'll let you decide Alan. Cuzco is about 10,000 to 12,000 ft above sea level, the altitude that normally on a plane they tell you that you can turn your electronics back on, just to put it in perspective. I think Edmonton is about 3,000 ft above sea level.

The local people are super friendly and ready to smile. It's not unusual to see herds of Pigs, Sheep, or cows being moved along this road.

From Cuzco we came pretty much directly to Oropesa, stopping on our way to meet Generation Humanitarian’s Jamie, a super energetic and fun guy who is working at Azul Wasi right now. We met him on his dirtbike with a girl named Julie on the back, a volunteer at Azul Wasi from France.

Azul Wasi.

Arriving at the orphanage we also met Reggy from Utah and Catia from Switzerland, and of course all 14 of the cutest little Peruvian kids that live here. The next day after having finally slept for more than 3-4 hours in the last 48 previous, we headed out to Cuzco to get some things we needed and made a few stops to see some of the festivities that have been happening lately in town.

Oropesa is a quiet, humble town. Henequen plants and cactus line the pathway to Azul Wasi.

After a super long and tiring day we headed back to Azul Wasi. The kids here are so loving, you can tell they soak in all the love that they can get. We're definitely not the first volunteers to be here. Within the time Azul Wasi has been around, there has been dozens of others like us here to help. We are still settling in, but we love it and can't wait to show you all more of this beautiful and humble place.

Native Peruvian women in traditional decorative dress for the parade.

These two little men are Nilo (left) and Uliño; all these kids become your insta-friends.

We Made It!!

2012-06-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to tell you we made it safe!! We are alive after a crazy flight to Houstin, lets just say we circled the airport for almost an hour due to the weather. Don´t even mention the turbulence! Everyone looked so calm and tranquilo on the plane so I smiled and pretended all was well, BUT inside I was FREAKING OUT!! I think my stomach found a new place in my mouth because the plane kept plunging from the sky everytime we flew through a thunder cloud! Peru is amazing. I wish I had my pictures to upload but it'll have to happen later as we don´t have internet at the orphanage (it's not working) so maybe I´ll bring them next time we get to a internet cafe. The kids are wonderful and give us hugs everyday! They say "Hola Amiga/o" everytime they see us. I can´t wait till my spanish improves so I can communicate better with them. No altitute sickness woot woot, but I hear it takes a couple days. I can´t wait to write a super long blog entry with lots of details! We are in Cusco now wandering the streets, getting lost, looking for a map. Our Orphanage is about 45 min away and we can´t spend the entire day here. So I am off for now!

Love yah Dana

And They're Off....

2012-06-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

By the time you read this we will be high in the sky flying over Canada jetting towards Peru. I've been pondering this trip and I have great hopes for what we will do and accomplish there, but I also come to remember the real reason for us taking this step: to serve. Though we will grow personally and emotionally, hopefully not physically, I want this trip to not be about us. This trip will be about the kids and the people we meet. It is not about fun fun fun, but sincere love for others (although we have no doubt that fun will be a part of the experience). This is our goal for our trip.

Featured!

2012-06-17T18:39:00.001-07:00

In this month's newsletter from Generations Humanitarian we were featured as the newest additions! Read the newsletter here.

By the way, thanks to everyone who has viewed our blog so far, we have over 1000 views already!

Expect a post to come up in the next few days since we'll be flying down Tuesday the 19th (of June), and we'll definitely want to tell you all about it!

Please check out the Generations Humanitarian facebook page. For every person you get to "LIKE" Generations Humanitarian, there is a matching donor who will pay $1 (one USD) toward sponsoring a child in your name. It costs $37 per month to sponsor a child. If you get 37 people to LIKE them, you get to feed a street child for a month. Get 3700 people, and they reach their goal of "100 months of life". Tell your friends too!

Weddings and Temples

2012-06-15T10:51:00.003-07:00

Well Jon and I are back in Tofield from a month of visiting family. After adventuring in Victoria we drove 17 hours to Bountiful, Utah to assist and attend a very good friend's wedding. Jackie was married in the Bountiful Temple where they were married for all time and eternity, not death till you part. (http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/topic/temples).

Jackie was the "bride of my dreams" to quote Anne of Green Gables. She was beautiful and Mike was very handsome as well. They are a fun couple and I can already see that they will have a great marriage.

Bountiful Temple

The next day we drove 3 hours to Rexburg, Idaho to visit my niece who is going to University. Where we discovered another LDS Temple, or at least I forgot that it had one, as well as every other town we drove by.
We spent the evening laughing and taking pictures. Then it was the 13 hour drive home to Tofield. I am sick of driving!

Pictures from Rexburg.

( I was too busy to watermark them all so no touchy!)

wondering why she has to pose

Studying hard

Her pet

This is what I get when I ask her to pose

I really am just asking for it having her in front of my lens

Jon doesn't help either!

Some Needs

2012-06-05T00:55:00.003-07:00

I've contacted the executive director of Generations Humanitarian (Genhu), the organization that is running the orphanage we will be going to, asking them what the needs are of the Orphanage, Azul Wasi. At Azul Wasi they are trying to expand the facility and are in need of a few things. They need cash donations for mattresses and blankets. Also they need us to bring some single sheet sets (white), pillow cases and pillows. They are opening a new dorm for more children. If you are able to and can donate please click on the link and Donate!!

http://www.genhu.org/

Thanks guys! I know the kids will appreciate the beds!

Mussels and Dates

2012-06-04T22:31:00.001-07:00

On Friday we set out to visit a beach on the West Coast to hunt for mussels. The day was chilly and clouds covered the sky but we were determined to spend some time pillaging the sea. I've always had this romantic idea of living off the land and Vancouver Island would be the perfect place since there's an abundance of edible plants and sea life. With shovels, knives, and buckets in tow, we trudged along on the beach up to the gnarled granite point. The deep blue mussels looked like teeth ready to tear us to shreds as we hacked at the fibres attached to the shells. The tide was on its way in licking at out ankles as if it was trying to sweep us out to sea with each wave. We stayed until the tide almost trapped us on the other side.

My sis and me

On our way home we were invited to a fun date put on by the super fun Schafers. The mom, Kirsten, is a McKay and if you any of you are familiar with the McKays you'll know they are always doing wacky things. Well, two of the Shafer children decided to design a fun date for their parents and friends. There were 4 couples and we had no idea was going on. First we were asked questions like, "where was your second kiss?". We all answered incorrectly. Then we had to play paper-rock-scissors to see who got to choose first. Choose what? We still had no idea. After they pulled out some sad looking inflatable tubes and dingies, some of which were half inflated with carrots used to plug the airways! Our mission: To catch Daylin in the canoe.

It was still a chilly day and we were worried about getting cold swimming in our clothes. Of course, we were not told what was going to happen, so we decided that we would freak out the kids, telling them that we were going to swim naked because we wanted dry clothes to wear. It wasn't until the guys had their shirts off that Alyssa, the daughter, started to get worried. It was fun scaring them!

It was a sight to see us struggling in the water screeching and laughing trying to catch the canoe. Once we had made a spectacle of ourselves Daylin and Alyssa provided us with a yummy lasagne. It was such a fun and random activity, I loved it!! Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of the evenings activities.

Note: the pictures haven't been taken by me, it's great to share the burden with family!

With Love - Dana!

Another Day in Paradise, Part 3.2

2012-05-31T10:08:00.002-07:00

Continued from Part 3.1...

Our next stop took us past Port Renfrew, the gateway to the famous West Coast Trail. We read that the world's biggest Douglas Fir was in the area. Not wanting to pass up the chance to see such a wonder, we decided to take a look. It turned out to be the highlight of the adventure, and the hardest part of the day.

After winding up and down shale riddled roads, tempting us to turn back a few times, we finally arrived at the site. A lush fern-filled trail almost overgrown with second growth rainforest led us to an opening where we finally found the wooden giant. Standing nearly twice as high as any of its fir grandchildren, the tree towered above everything around it. We imagined how much taller and more ancient the forest would have appeared when the original growth still existed.

After admiring the almost 1,000 year-old tree, along with other tree species at almost the same size, we headed back along the winding road towards home. The island favored us with warm views of distant mountains cradling the sun as it slowly dipped behind them.